Week 1: Recovery and Getting to Know You

I think we made it out of the hospital in record time for c-section patients, especially with having a “high” temperature that needed to be monitored incessantly. It’s nice to be home, though I miss the hospital bed for assistance sitting up. I don’t miss being bothered at any hour of the day or night to have my blood pressure taken by a machine that doesn’t work half the time, or the IV monitor beeping until a nurse can take the time to restart it, or the stale air because none of the windows actually open.

I’m still working on my mixed feelings about how the labor and delivery went. Of course, I am so grateful that we are healthy, and have the medical interventions available to us today to thank for that. While I still strongly believe in the natural ability of our bodies to give birth, throughout history there have been complications in labor for some women. I just never believed I would be one of that small percentage of women that actually had complications that required the use of those interventions. So, the struggle is not necessarily about disappointment that I had a c-section and not a peaceful water birth at home, but that I am now part of a scarily high statistic in the US – and fodder for those who don’t believe homebirths are a safe option for most moms. We’ll just have to prove them wrong on the next go ‘round.

We were finally able to leave at 11pm on Friday, after a promised discharge time of 8pm. All the main doors to Tacoma General were locked, so it looked like we were making a fast escape, coming out the emergency exit doors. It wasn’t a stealth escape, though, as Lyla screamed the whole time (the photo is just before the screaming began), the flowers spilt and got everything wet, and the carseat didn’t fit (who knew we’d actually need to use it on day 2?). Luckily, home was less than a mile away, so we were able to wake all the neighbors just before settling in ourselves for the night.

It’s amazing what a great communicator Lyla is. She smacks her lips when she’s hungry, squirms her body when she needs to poop (along with the “occasional” grunt), squeals when tired but trying to stay awake just a bit longer, and has these awesome side grins when trying to wake up and is content. It’s safe to say we are completely smitten, as the entirety of our days are now spent baby ogling.